![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Ohio
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: January 31, 1996 (Volume 61, Number 21)] [Rules and Regulations] [Page 3319-3326] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 40 CFR Parts 52 and 81 [OH66-1-6499A, OH76-1-6900A; FRL-5405-4] Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Ohio AGENCY: United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). ACTION: Direct final rule.
SUMMARY: The USEPA is approving the State of Ohio's State Implementation Plan revision request to redesignate the Canton (Stark County), and Youngstown (Mahoning and Trumbull Counties) marginal ozone nonattainment areas to attainment, and establish ozone standard maintenance plans for these areas. Ground-level ozone, commonly known as smog, is an air pollutant which forms on hot summer days which harmfully affects lung tissue and breathing passages. The redesignation to attainment of the health-based ozone air quality standard is based on a request from the State of Ohio to redesignate this area and approve its maintenance plan, and on the supporting data the State submitted in support of the requests. Under the Clean Air Act, designations can be changed if sufficient data are available to warrant such change, and a maintenance plan is put in place which is designed to ensure the area maintains ozone air quality standard for the next ten years. [[Page 3320]] DATES: The ``direct final'' is effective on April 1, 1996, unless USEPA receives adverse or critical comments by March 1, 1996. If USEPA receives comments adverse to or critical of the approval discussed above, USEPA will withdraw this approval before its effective date by publishing a subsequent Federal Register document which withdraws this final action. All public comments received will then be addressed in a subsequent rulemaking document. ADDRESSES: Copies of the revision request and USEPA's analysis (Technical Support Document) are available for inspection at the following address: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson Boulevard (AR- 18J), Chicago, Illinois 60604. (It is recommended that you telephone William Jones at (312) 886-6058, before visiting the Region 5 Office). Written comments should be sent to: J. Elmer Bortzer, Chief, Regulation Development Section, Regulation Development Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Jones at (312) 886-6058. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under section 107(d) of the pre-amended Clean Air Act (CAA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) promulgated the ozone attainment status for each area of every State. For Ohio, Canton (Stark County), and Youngstown (Mahoning, and Trumbull Counties) were designated as a nonattainment area for ozone, see 43 FR 8962 (March 3, 1978), and 43 FR 45993 (October 5, 1978). On November 15, 1990, the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 were enacted. Public Law 101-549, 104 Stat. 2399, codified at 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q. Pursuant to section 107(d)(1)(C) of the CAA, the Canton and Youngstown areas retained their designation of nonattainment for ozone by operation of law, see 56 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991). At the same time these areas were classified as marginal ozone nonattainment areas based on design values of 0.135 parts per million (ppm) for Canton, and 0.134 ppm for Youngstown. Design values are based upon actual monitoring data collected in the area. A design value is calculated for each monitoring site in the area, with the highest monitor design value being the design value for the area. A design value for each monitor is usually the fourth highest reading during a three year period. Generally, the design value has been set from the years 1987 to 1989. Section 181 of the CAA provides a table establishing classifications for different areas based upon area design values. Areas with design values of 0.121 ppm up to 0.138 ppm are classified as marginal nonattainment. Mercer County, Pennsylvania was also included in the Youngstown-Warren-Sharon marginal ozone nonattainment area, along with Mahoning and Trumbull Counties, Ohio. An ozone redesignation request was made by Ohio for Mahoning and Trumbull Counties, but Pennsylvania has not requested redesignation of Mercer County. In this case it is appropriate to proceed with the redesignation of the Ohio portion of this ozone nonattainment area, because: (1) The entire Youngstown-Warren-Sharon marginal ozone nonattainment area has attained the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS); and (2) Ohio's maintenance plan contains triggers that rely on the ozone monitor located in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) requested that the areas be redesignated in letters dated March 25, 1994, (received on April 5, 1994) and August 15, 1994, (received on August 22, 1994) for Canton and Youngstown, Ohio, respectively. The public hearing portions were transmitted to us in letters from Robert Hodanbosi, Chief of the Division of Air Pollution Control, OEPA, dated August 10, 1994, for Canton, and November 14, 1994, for Youngstown. The State provided monitoring, emissions data, and other documentation to support its redesignation requests. The review criteria and a review of the requests are provided below. I. Redesignation Review Criteria Under the CAA, designations can be changed if sufficient data are available to warrant such change. The CAA provides the requirements for redesignating a nonattainment area to attainment. Specifically, section 107(d)(3)(E) provides for redesignation if: (i) The Administrator determines that the area has attained the NAAQS; (ii) The Administrator has fully approved the applicable implementation plan for the area under Section 110(k); (iii) The Administrator determines that the improvement in air quality is due to permanent and enforceable reductions in emissions resulting from implementation of the applicable implementation plan and applicable Federal air pollutant control regulations and other permanent and enforceable reductions; (iv) The Administrator has fully approved a maintenance plan for the area as meeting the requirements of Section 175A; and (v) The State containing such area has met all requirements applicable to the area under Section 110 and Part D.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has provided guidance on processing redesignation requests in the following memoranda and related documents:
- Inspection/Maintenance Program Requirement--Provisions for Redesignation (60 FR 1735), January 5, 1995.
- ``Part D New Source Review (part D NSR) Requirements for Areas Requesting Redesignation to Attainment,'' Mary D. Nichols, Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, October 14, 1994.
- Conformity; General Preamble for Exemption from Nitrogen Oxides Provisions, General Preamble for Future Proposed Rulemakings (59 FR 31238), June 17, 1994.
- ``Section 182(f) Nitrogen Oxides (NO<INF>x) Exemptions Revised Process and Criteria,'' John S. Seitz, Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, May 27, 1994.
- ``Maintenance Plan Requirements for Incomplete/No Data Areas,'' Lydia Wegman, Deputy Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, May 8, 1994.
- ``Use of Actual Emissions in Maintenance Demonstrations for Ozone and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Nonattainment Areas,'' D. Kent Berry, Acting Director, Air Quality Management Division, November 30, 1993.
- ``State Implementation Plan (SIP) Requirements for Areas Submitting Requests for Redesignation to Attainment of the Ozone and Carbon Monoxide (CO) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) on or after November 15, 1992,'' Michael H. Shapiro, Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, September 17, 1993.
- ``Technical Support Document (TSDs) for Redesignating Ozone and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Nonattainment Areas,'' G. T. Helms, Chief, Ozone/ Carbon Monoxide Programs Branch, August 17, 1993.
- ``State Implementation Plan (SIP) Actions Submitted in Response to Clean Air Act (ACT) Deadlines,'' John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality Management Division, October 28, 1992.
- ``Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to Attainment,'' John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality Management Division, September 4, 1992. [[Page 3321]] 11. ``Contingency Measures for Ozone and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Redesignations,'' G.T. Helms, Chief, Ozone/Carbon Monoxide Programs Branch, June 1, 1992. II. Review of the Redesignation Requests The redesignation requests were reviewed to determine if they meet the criteria for redesignating an area to attainment. A. The Area Must Have Attained the Ozone NAAQS For ozone, an area may be considered attaining the NAAQS if there are no violations, as determined in accordance with the regulation codified at 40 CFR 50.9, based on the three (3) most recent consecutive calendar years of quality assured monitoring data. A violation occurs when the ozone air quality monitoring data show greater than one (1) average expected exceedance per year. An exceedance occurs when the maximum hourly ozone concentration exceeds 0.124 parts per million (ppm). The data should be collected and quality-assured in accordance with 40 CFR part 58, and recorded in the Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS) in order for it to be available to the public for review.
Ambient air quality monitoring data show that these two areas attained the NAAQS for ozone during the 1989 to 1994 time period, and preliminary 1995 ozone monitoring data continues to demonstrate both areas' continued attainment.
The ozone monitoring network for Canton consists of four (4) monitors. In Canton only one (1) exceedance of the ozone standard has been monitored since 1990; it was 0.130 ppm and occurred at the North Canton monitor in 1991. The monitoring network for the Youngstown area consists of four (4) monitors that are located in Mercer, Mahoning, and Trumbull Counties. The Youngstown area has monitored several exceedances since 1990 but is not in violation of the ozone standard. Preliminary monitoring data for 1995 shows only one exceedance at the Mahoning County Monitor, which is the first exceedance at that monitor since 1991. This would not result in a violation. Data stored in AIRS was used to determine the annual average expected exceedances for the years 1992, 1993, and 1994. Data contained in AIRS have undergone quality assurance review by the State and USEPA. Since the annual average number of expected exceedances for each monitor during the most recent three years is less than 1.0, the Canton and Youngstown areas are attaining the standard. Summaries of air quality data for Canton, and Youngstown are contained in Tables 1 and 2. The areas are currently meeting the section 107(d)(3)(E)(i) requirement of attaining the ozone NAAQS. Table 1.--Peak 1-Hour Ozone Concentrations in the Canton Area 1989 to 1994 Exceedances Expected Site County Year measured exceedances Exceedances Expected Site County Year measured exceedances Table 3.--VOC Emissions in Tons Per Summer Day Point Area Mobile Year sources sources sources Totals Table 4.--NO<INF>X VOC Emissions in Tons Per Summer Day Point Area Mobile Point Area Mobile Youngstown Areas Date Action/event Revisions will be necessary to accommodate the Youngstown contingency plan. announced. Ohio EPA submits request for program budget. Ohio EPA hires additional staff for program. equipment. awareness program. Ohio EPA secures lab contracts. achieve final compliance. Ohio--Ozone Designation Classification Date\1\ Type Date\1\ Type * Canton Area ........................ ........................ Stark County........................ April 1, 1996........... Attainment.............. * Youngstown-Warren-Sharon Area: ........................ ........................ Mahoning County..................... April 1, 1996........... Attainment.............. Trumbull County..................... April 1, 1996........... Attainment.............. * \1\This date is November 15, 1990, unless otherwise noted.